The Twin Brothers
A tale of royal twins hidden from a law requiring their death, one of whom drowns the other for the throne and is exposed when first a fish and then the river itself sing what lies in the water.
intermediatemedium·
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A tale of royal twins hidden from a law requiring their death, one of whom drowns the other for the throne and is exposed when first a fish and then the river itself sing what lies in the water.
The Yorùbá wey dem quote, the proverbs, oríkì, ẹsẹ Ifá, word list headwords, Odù names and citations dey exactly as the corpus record dem, for every language.
Dis na story about twin brothers wey king favourite wife born for di time wey tradition be say make dem kill twins and dia mama together once dem born dem. Di king no fit enforce di law, so e hide dem. Dem grow up together without separating, come know say dem be royal blood, and throw stones to decide which of dem go take di empty throne. Di one wey lose drown di one wey win, and secret come open when first a fish, and later di river itself, sing wetin dey inside di water. Na M. I. Ogumefu record am for English in 1929 .
Na dis story be di only one wey dis compiler fit find wey treat di tradition to kill twins directly, and na dat make am dey important to record even though di background information about where e come from no too plenty.
Di foundation of dis story need careful look, because di corpus document Yorùbá respect for twins well well. Dem dey give Ìbejì high honour, dem dey carve twin figures and care for dem, and Yorùbáland dey among places wey get di highest rate of twin births for di world; ibeji treat dis matter.
Dis story talk about an earlier tradition wey dey kill twins once dem born dem . Di corpus record say na wetin di story claim, and di corpus itself no judge di history based on one 1929 popular collection. Wetin pesin fit talk na say di change from killing twins to honouring dem na somtin wey history books record as a real shift, and say story wey keep di memory of di old practice as somtin wey pesin suppose disobey dey agree with tradition wey later reverse itself. Di relationship between dis story and dat history no be somtin wey Ogumefu discuss, and dis compiler never check di story against scholarly work on twins. ibeji na di file wey get di question.
Make una also note say di moral side of di story dey against di law: di king "had not the heart to put this cruel law into execution," and Ogumefu narration call am cruel . Any time wey dem write am, di story show say di narrator already dey see killing of twins as bad tin.
One Yorùbá king, Ajaka, get one favourite wife wey e like well well; but she born twins .
For dat time, na general custom say make dem kill twins immediately after birth, and join dia mama kill dem . But di king no get di heart to carry out dis cruel law, so e secretly tell one of im chiefs make e take di royal mother and her babies go one far place where dem go fit dey safe.
Na for dere di twin brothers grow become men, and dem love each other well well . Dem dey together always, and none of dem dey enjoy anytin unless di other pesin dey dere. Ogumefu write one line about dis wey make sense to quote:
When one brother began to speak, the other completed his phrase, so harmonious were their thoughts and inclinations.
Dia mama, before she die, tell dem say dem be royal blood, and from dat moment dem spend time dey regret say dem dey exile and dey wish say di law of di land allow make dem fit rule .
Finally dem hear news say di king wey be dia papa don die, and e no leave any heir, so di brothers feel say one of dem suppose go di capital city go claim di throne. But which of dem?
To settle di matter, dem decide to throw stones, and di one wey throw pass go claim di throne, and later send message make im brother come join am enjoy di glory.
Di choice fall on di younger twin. E travel go di capital, announce imself as di Ọlọ́fin's son, and e quickly become king with agreement of all di people. As quick as possible, e send call im brother, wey from dat time start to live with am for palace and dem dey treat am with honour and respect.
But jealousy start to overtake brotherly love, and one day as e dey waka with di king for side of di river, e push im brother suddenly enter di water, where e drown.
E come spread word for di palace say im brother don taya for kingship and don commot for di country, and say e want make im rule instead. Di king truly disappear, and since nobody suspect di twin brother, dem make am king, and na so e achieve im secret plan.
Sometime later, as e dey pass di exact spot where im brother drown, e see one fish come up to di surface of di water and begin sing:
Di Yorùbá no dey. Na only English Ogumefu take print di song .
(No Yorùbá text recorded inside source)
Your brother lies here, Your brother lies here.
Translator: M. I. Ogumefu
Fear catch di king well well. E pick sharp stone and kill di fish.
But another day when e pass dat spot, with im chiefs wey dey follow am and royal umbrella wey dem make with skin of special animals dey cover am, di river itself rise with waves and sing di same two lines.
Di chiefs surprise and dem stop to listen. Dia eye clear to suspect somtin, and when dem look inside di water, dem see di dead body of di king.
Na so di secret of im disappearance open, and di people reject di wicked brother with fear and disgust. Because of dis disgrace, e take poison and die.
No Yorùbá survive and nothing dey reconstructed. Wetin remain na di structure: two identical lines, wey two different singers sing two times inside di story, di second time for public. Na di shortest song for dis section and na im do di biggest work, since e be di accusation, di evidence, and di location of di body at di same time.
Di way e work na say pesin no fit kill witness because di witness na di place itself. Wetin di killer first do work well: fish sing, e kill di fish with stone, and di immediate problem settle. Im mistake na say e treat di fish like na di source. When e return, di river sing, and pesin no fit use stone make river keep quiet.
Na how dem arrange the second singing be where the skill of the tori dey, and the corpus mark this one as analysis. E no dey alone. E dey "attended by his nobles and shielded by the royal umbrella made of the skins of rare animals," wey mean say e dey the highest level of im kingship, for full public display, with the whole palace people present. The tori arrange am make dem drop the accusation exact time wey the highest number of important people dey stand beside am. owe-secrets-gossip-rumour gather the proverb material on wetin no dey stay hide.
The second mechanism na the way the tori turn the beginning upside down. The tori start with two brothers wey close so tey one dey complete the other person sentence, and e end with one of dem killing the other because of throne. Dat opening line no be decoration; na the standard wey dem take dey read the ending, and na why the crime dey show like sometin wey worse pass ordinary murder. owe-friendship-trust-betrayal carry the related material.
Make una notice how the matter settle. The palace people find the body, the secret open, and the brother, dem "rejected in horror by his people." No court trial, no execution, no royal command: the punishment na communal rejection, and e reach to kill am, because e come drink poison. Na the same structure wey the analysis of Ìjàpá àti Ìgbín for yoruba-alo identify as characteristic, where the community judgment instead of leader punishment na wetin settle matter. Compare alo-the-poor-woman-and-the-aranran-bird, where the king ask the gathered people wetin dem suppose do before e give judgment.
Lastly, the corpus note say na through lot dem win the throne and na through murder dem lose am, and say the tori no treat the lot as sometin wey no fair. To throw stone na the brothers own agreed method, and the person wey lose accept am reach time wey dem send call am, give am house and honour am. Wetin destroy am no be say the outcome no fair, but say e no fit live inside agreement wey e make.
The younger twin announce imself as "the Ọlọ́fin's son." Ọlọ́fin na royal title, and using am here instead of the name Ajaka wey dem give for start na small inconsistency inside the printed text wey Ogumefu no resolve. The corpus record am as dem print am and e no try to smooth am.
This compiler no see any Yorùbá-language version or any second collection of this tori. The record wey dem check no talk anything about variation, and e no talk whether the king Ajaka wey dem name here na the historical Ọ̀yọ́ ruler wey get dat name.
Na for evening dem dey tell am, as dem treat for yoruba-alo. The song na two lines and e dey repeat, wey make am the chorus wey easy pass to join inside the section, and dem dey sing am for the two moments wey the tori dey turn. Seeing as Ogumefu talk say e comot songs (alo-ogumefu-1929-as-a-source), e dey possible say dem sing more parts of this tori pass wetin the printed text show.
The evening storytelling tradition, the call-and-response frame that opens it, riddles as a separate discipline, and the Ìjàpá cycle read as a body of ethical and comic literature.
The tale of a woman who promises her first child to the spirit of the ìrókò tree in exchange for fertility, cannot pay, and is turned into a bird until her husband carves a wooden child to deceive the tree.
What M. I. Ogumefu's 1929 collection offers, and the disqualifying caveat she states in her own preface: the songs of these tales have been deliberately left out.
Yoruba twins, the highest twinning rate in the world, the ere ibeji figure carved when a twin dies, and the reversal from infanticide to veneration.
Sourced Yorùbá proverbs on the ọba (king), the olóyè (titled chief), and the obligations, dangers and limits that come with holding power over others.
Sourced Yorùbá proverbs about the household, the lineage, the father's house and the obligations that follow from being born into a particular family.